5-3.1 Explain how the Industrial Revolution was furthered by new inventions and technologies, including new methods of mass production and transportation and the invention of the light bulb, the telegraph, and the telephone.
FARMS TO FACTORIES
The post-Civil War Industrial Revolution was the continuation of changes in the United States economy that started prior to the war. The fundamental change was from an economy based on agriculture and trade to one based on the production of manufactured goods. The manufacture of goods required raw materials, workers, capital equipment, and new ideas (technology) about how to use these factors to create goods. Economists refer to land, labor, capital, and technology as the factors of production. It is important for students to understand that the term technology refers to new ideas about how to do something as well as the equipment needed to do it.
TRANSPORTATION
Government policies that encouraged westward movement such as the funding of the
transcontinental railroad and the availability of free land to homesteaders encouraged the use of the abundant natural resources of the West. The transportation system provided by
transcontinental railroad shipped raw materials to cities where manufacturers changed the raw materials into consumer products and then shipped those products to people throughout the country and world. Grains shipped from farms on the Great Plains to giant mills became cereal for American breakfast tables. Hogs and cattle shipped to meat processing plants were served for dinner throughout the country. Iron ore was shipped to processing plants where it was converted to steel for the building of more railroads or the creation of steel girders for skyscrapers and bridges
transcontinental railroad and the availability of free land to homesteaders encouraged the use of the abundant natural resources of the West. The transportation system provided by
transcontinental railroad shipped raw materials to cities where manufacturers changed the raw materials into consumer products and then shipped those products to people throughout the country and world. Grains shipped from farms on the Great Plains to giant mills became cereal for American breakfast tables. Hogs and cattle shipped to meat processing plants were served for dinner throughout the country. Iron ore was shipped to processing plants where it was converted to steel for the building of more railroads or the creation of steel girders for skyscrapers and bridges
MASS PRODUCTION
New methods of mass production were used to turn raw materials into consumer products.
Andrew Carnegie brought the Bessemer process, which converted iron into steel, to the United States. His company, Carnegie Steel, built huge steel foundries and created a monopoly on the production of steel. Meat packers developed a ‘dis-assembly’ line where the hogs and cattle were killed and then cut into steaks and chops and the leftovers were stuffed into sausages. One meat packer boasted that his plant could use every part of the pig but its squeal. Although manufacturers in the late nineteenth century produced goods on a large scale and used the system of interchangeable parts first introduced in the late 1700s by Eli Whitney, the assembly line was not introduced until the early twentieth century. Henry Ford first used the assembly line for the production of automobiles in 1913.
Andrew Carnegie brought the Bessemer process, which converted iron into steel, to the United States. His company, Carnegie Steel, built huge steel foundries and created a monopoly on the production of steel. Meat packers developed a ‘dis-assembly’ line where the hogs and cattle were killed and then cut into steaks and chops and the leftovers were stuffed into sausages. One meat packer boasted that his plant could use every part of the pig but its squeal. Although manufacturers in the late nineteenth century produced goods on a large scale and used the system of interchangeable parts first introduced in the late 1700s by Eli Whitney, the assembly line was not introduced until the early twentieth century. Henry Ford first used the assembly line for the production of automobiles in 1913.
Telephone and Telegraph
Inventions also helped to promote industrial growth in the late nineteenth century. The telegraph was invented in the pre-Civil War period by Samuel Morse in order to help the railroads communicate, stay on schedule, and prevent accidents. It was soon used to place orders for goods
by means of the Morse code and to ensure that both raw materials and finished products were delivered to the right place at the right time. The telegraph promoted economic growth and the industrial revolution. The telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876 and improved communication previously accomplished by the telegraph. Businesses could communicate by telephone more quickly and easily. Soon homes of wealthy people had telephones and eventually almost every home had a telephone. The telephone was easier to usebecause it did not require people to learn a new system of communication required by the Morse code. |
LIGHT AND ELECTRICITY
The light bulb was not invented by Thomas Edison; however, he significantly improved it and made it practical for use. Edison invented the incandescent light bulb in 1879. It promoted economic growth because it made it possible to light factories as well as homes more safely than kerosene lamps. The light bulb made the use of electricity popular and therefore electric generators [1881] were built and electric lines were strung in cities and towns. Electricity, in turn, provided a new way of powering the manufacturing plants that had been relying on water power from rivers or steam power produced by burning coal. The light bulb contributed to the economic growth of the United States by encouraging the development of factories that could be located wherever electric lines could be strung. Electricity also contributed to the growth of transportation. Electric powered streetcars made it possible for people to move to the outskirts of the cities to live and commute to work by streetcar. The availability of electricity also led to the invention of many labor saving devices for the home that were run by electricity, such as the washing machine and the vacuum cleaner. These inventions made life easier for families whocould afford to buy them. The invention of the telephone provided new jobs for telephone operators, a job most often performed by women. The invention of the sewing machine and the typewriter also provided women with new job opportunities in clothing factories and offices.
Airplanes
The Wright Brothers, Orville and Wilbur, started the aircraft industry with their experiments in manned flight. They experimented with a flying machine for several years before their motorized airplane flew for twelve seconds at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina in 1903.
- Industrial Revolution Photo Analysis activity.
In groups, look at each of the primary sources. Discuss each one, look at each one and its impact on the development of the US as a world power. Using justification from the learning, order the inventions in order of importance in relation to the building of America as a world power. You should have reasoning and discussion as to the placement of the pictures. Groups should present their justification.Then, individually, create a journal response with their personal order. Use your learning, including class discussion, to justify their answer.
- Analyze videos of the Industrial Revolution
- Analyze the videos using the video analysis sheet. Using justification from your learning, each group should order the inventions in order of importance in relation to the building of America as a world power. Then, individually, create a journal response with your personal order. Use your learning, including class discussion, to justify their answer. (DOK 3)
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Four Square Thinking Cube
- Read closely the ABDO eBook Rise of Industry (United States Series) (pages 19-22). Use the Four Square Thinking Cube to determine how inventions affected America becoming a world power. (DOK 1-3).
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